“He’s coming through the front door,” rejoices Vadim Vasilyev, the former vice-president of AS Monaco

“He’s coming through the front door.”, rejoiced Tuesday June 4 on franceinfo Vadim Vasilyev, former vice-president of AS Monaco from 2013 to 2019. Kylian Mbappé signed a 5-year contract with Real Madrid. The Frenchman is making a childhood dream come true in the biggest club in the world. “I’m delighted. Delighted for Kylian and delighted for world football”reacts the former manager who contributed to the development of the young player when he was in the Monaco squad.

The first contacts with Real Madrid are not new: “In July 2017, when Real Madrid made a full offer to AS Monaco, we wanted to accept it. Kylian and his parents took the time to think about it. It was always the club of his dream, of his childhood. But he said: ‘I don’t feel like going there now. I want to stay in France. I still have things to do in France. For Paris'”, he said. Vadim Vasilyev then encourages him in his choice: “I told him: ‘Kylian, you’re right, you’re going to arrive through the front door’”. Seven years later, Bondy’s kid’s dream came true.

Looking back, Vadim Vasilyev believes it was the right time: “He has grown as a player, he has grown as a man and he is arriving through the front door. In 2017, he would have arrived as a great nugget of the future, but not with the same status, that of the best player in the world”. A status perhaps a little heavy to carry in a club where the locker room is known to be difficult. “He’s totally ready, I have no worries about that”, he wants to be reassuring.

However, his destiny could have changed two years ago. A major European club contacts Vadim Vasilyev to act as intermediary with Kylian Mbappé’s family. This club was ready “to make the total” to sign the Parisian player. “I sent the message. He never wanted to follow up. In his head, he knew he would go there. It was Real and nothing else”he said.